My Personal Salvation  Testimony
 "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a  new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become  new."
    II Corinthians 5:17
 
 My Life Without Christ
 
 I was born in a Christian family. My dad was working in a big  company, but in the late 70's, he surrendered to the ministry and became  a full
time pastor of a Baptist church. My mother was a teacher, but on  November 1983, she passed away to be with the Lord. I have one sister,  and
3 brothers, and I am the third child from the eldest. My brothers and  sister had many physical strengths and were talented, but I felt I had  lots of
weaknesses. So I felt inferior and developed an attitude of being  shy and introvert. Yet, despite my weaknesses, I was ambitious. Deep  within
me I had the hope that someday I would be different and would  become a successful person. My weaknesses led me to seek comfort in God's
 word, and so I became a Bible reader. I was religious and active in  attending Sunday School, Worship services, Training Union, and choir, and
 having a dad who is a pastor, I easily learned how to share some Bible  doctrines, especially about idolatry, to my classmates and friends. Yes,  I
was religious, but being religious did not bring me peace and  happiness. I remember, in 1974 during a revival crusade in the church, I  came
forward to accept the Lord, but I think it was a matter of emotional  experience and was lacking in conviction and understanding of God's
 salvation. I had many unfulfilled desires, and I became dissatisfied and  frustrated. I got bored and tired of my way of life, so when I came to
 college, I strove hard to change my ways to overcome my weaknesses. I got  better grades and was excelling only in the beginning, but my heart
was  still filled with discontentment and frustrations. Due to a lack of  direction, I began practicing sins that later enslaved me. My life was  without
meaning and purpose, and I hated myself for what I was. I wished  I were somebody else. There were even times that I wished I could end my
 life.
 
 How I Came To Know Christ Personally
 
 I remember, it was October 1979 when I got hold of a booklet about  how to have a personal relationship with God. While reading, I saw myself
 in the illustration as the natural man whose life is filled with discord  and frustrations. I also realized that if I fully surrender my life to  the Lord, he
will change my life and give me love, joy, and peace. Then  there were nights that I couldn't sleep, and tears kept flowing from my  eyes. There
were struggles in my heart until I cried to the Lord,  "Lord Jesus, take control of my life!". Since then, I found  peace and joy in my heart. Then,
one Sunday Afternoon, the phone rang and  I was the one who answered it. One of the staff of a certain Christian  campus ministry was looking
for my sister so she can request her to draw  a poster for their activity. Because my sister was not around, I was  requested to draw for them and
they discovered that I have a talent that  is useful for the Lord. I felt their concern and desire that I would be  developed and become useful. Since
then, I availed myself of their  leadership and discipleship training and became actively involved in  evangelism and discipleship.
 
 My life Since I Received Christ
 
 Lots of changes happened in my life since I accepted the Lord Jesus  as my Lord and Savior. Once I was a very shy person, but God made me
 courageous and bold to share the Gospel to others. Before, my life had no  purpose and direction, but God gave me a new purpose for living and
made  me useful in His Kingdom. I realized that God allowed me to have many  weaknesses, in order that I would rely upon Him and trust Him to
develop  my weaknesses into spiritual strengths for the use of His glory.  Throughout my college days since I accepted the Lord, I had been active
 in evangelism and discipleship. When I became a Missionary Baptist, I  found out that the best place to serve God is in His Scriptural church. I
 learned also that evangelism and discipleship should be done in the  context of a Scriptural church's ministry. The Lord increased my talents  and
abilities and gave me many opportunities to serve Him in the right  church. For many times, I got involved in the leadership of Missionary  Baptist
Youth Fellowships and Missionary Baptist campus ministries. Now  the Lord is still using me in the great task of winning people, baptizing
 believers, doing mission and planting churches being a missionary of a  Missionary Baptist church. Indeed, the statement is true, "God uses
 ordinary people to accomplish great and extra ordinary tasks".
 
 -----Edwin Jardinel
 www.geocities.com/gieba
 Northern Phillippines
 
 
 "God does not choose men and women because of what they are,
 but because of what they will become"